Holder Would Be Held in Contempt Under Draft House Measure

By Seth Stern -
May 3, 2012

A U.S. House Republican lawmaker
circulated a draft measure to hold Attorney General Eric Holder
in contempt of Congress, saying the Justice Department didn’t
turn over documents in a gun investigation.

Representative Darrell Issa of California, chairman of the
Oversight and Government Reform Committee, released a report
today citing requests for documents in the committee’s probe of
the “fast and furious” law enforcement operation that allowed
illegal U.S. weapons purchases to wind up in Mexico.

“The Justice Department’s failure to respond appropriately
to the allegations of whistle-blowers and to cooperate with
congressional oversight has crossed the line of appropriate
conduct for a government agency,” Issa said in a memo
distributed to committee members today.

Deputy U.S. Attorney General James Cole, in a letter to
Issa today, disputed the assertion that the department response
has been inadequate.

The department has given the committee more than 7,600
pages of material, and officials including Holder and his
assistant attorney generals have appeared at its hearings, he
said. It also has responded “to dozens of letters from members
of Congress seeking information on a wide range of issues
relating” to the committee investigation, he said.

Material not released relates to “disclosure of materials
related to ongoing criminal investigations and prosecutions”
and the department’s belief that their exposure would jeopardize
the law enforcement mission, Cole said.

“Despite the differing views currently held by the
committee and the department, we continue to believe that
efforts to arrive at a mutually acceptable resolution have not
been fully exhausted,” he said.

The timing for a committee contempt vote is “still to be
decided,” said Frederick Hill, a spokesman for Issa’s
committee.